Wishing everyone a joyous and prosperous Diwali

I first remember reading the poem ‘The Bangles Sellers‘ by Sarojini Naidu back in school. The musical poem evokes many feelings in the heart and rightly portrays bangles as an Indian woman’s companions throughout her life. It brings forth to the mind the magical world of colourful glass bangles, their sweet clinking sounds and the hurried footsteps of ladies hurrying out of houses to buy them on hearing the call of the bangle sellers. One can picture them selecting the colours with the enthusiasm of small girls and comparing the more elaborately designed bangles with the plain ones. One can hear the happy expectation and excitement in their voices as they bargain for prices with the seller. A very common sight in many neighbourhoods, rural and urban. A sight that brings warmth to the heart for the joys that simple things like bangles can bring.

The sound of my Mother’s bangles was not just a sound. It represented everything that she was. I remember very often waking to the sound of her bangles as she went about her work, making breakfast for us and doing other chores to get us ready for school. I heard her before she knocked the door if she had gone out. I saw her even though she was chatting with the neighbours and I was ensconced inside the room of my house. And I also glimpsed the trying times in the silence of her bangles. Those inarticulate circles of glass symbolised all that she stood for.

Bangles are a delight of every girl. I remember wearing glaring shining pink bangles as a kid…. even to school to show them off to my friends. Glass bangles are worn by married women in many parts of India as a symbol of the holy union of marriage. The colours, however, are as diverse as the regions. Each has its own tradition with respect to the type and colour of the bangles to be worn. For instance, while the married women of Maharashtra wear green glass bangles, the white bangles (made of shell) accompanied by the red coral bangles are a common sight on the wrists of married women in Bengal and Orissa.

The one place in India where most of glass-ware is manufactured is Ferozabad, a small town near Agra. Most of the folks of this town are involved in the manufacture of glass-ware, in some form or the other. It is here that the most glass bangles are made. To make glass bangles, the molten coloured glass is pulled out as strings and coiled around a cylindrical block. This glass spring like object is then cut into bangle like structures with open ends. The open ended bangles are then reprocessed and joined as well as made uniform all around such that glass bits dont stick out at the joints. The process is, however, a slow one and involves heating and cooling of glass. Isnt it fascinating that these glass bangles pass through numerous hands before they rest on the wrists of a lady?

A city known for its bangles is Hyderabad, in Andhra Pradesh. The numerous shops lining the streets around Charminar glitter and glow with bangles. Here one can find not only an assortment of glass bangles but also the captivating stone-studded bangles. Metal bangles, spring bangles, bangles with mirrors, plain bangles, ornate bangles, gaudy bangles, slim elegant bangles or bangles shaped like squares or triangles, all can be found here. People from near and afar flock the marketplace for these bangles.

Bangles have been worn by Indian ladies since time immemorial. Excavations from Mohenjodaro affirm this age-old tradition. It is worth noting that, while bangles as ornaments can be discerned in other ancient civilizations as well, in India it became a significant tradition, particularly with respect to marriages. They are worn even today with the same gaiety and ardour as earlier, though one can see a decline in the tradition in cities, particularly in the metros. These dainty circles of light adorning the wrists of a woman are more than jewellery. Within their narrow confines are captured the joys, the sorrows, the fortitudes and the hopes of an Indian woman.

Related link: General information on bangles @ Surf India.